TO:
FROM:
DATE:
Advisory Update for Departments Using Participant Pools for Research
University of Massachusetts Lowell, Office of Institutional Compliance,
Institutional Review Board
October 26, 2014
Several departments across UMass Lowell have developed participant pools to facilitate
recruitment of research participants. These typically involve listing studies on a system such as
SONA. The following information will also replace relevant sections in the current IRB Policies
and Procedures Manual and will be updated on the www.uml.edu/Research/OIC website, under
the IRB section. In the meantime, please review the advisory update.
(Also updated in IRB Policies and Procedures, Revised October)
Research Using Student “Subject Pools”
Some UMass Lowell Departments use Subject Pools to recruit students for participation in
human subject research. These pools are managed currently through the SONA system. All
research posted on any UMass Lowell Subject Pool must have approval by the IRB prior to
its posting. Use of online participant recruitment tools, such as SONA, also requires that
information posted on the system be provided to the IRB in the application for approval. So that
students can make an informed decision about whether to participate, all postings must include
more than the title of the study. A brief description of the study purpose and method as well as
an indicator of any potential risk must be added. Inclusion and exclusion criteria must also be
outlined. Remember that individuals under age 18, even if they are college students, are
considered minors and parental consent and assent documents may be required or in some
cases, a full review IRB application may need to be submitted and approved before they may be
included in any study. Age guidelines must be clear on any recruitment tools, including SONA
listings.
SONA listings must therefore include:
 Study title
 Very brief description of study purpose and method
 Brief indication of potential risk
 Inclusion criteria, including age 18 or older
 Exclusion criteria, including under age 18
The amount of participant time estimated to complete a study should be consistent across
protocols by department for the types of credit, incentive, or compensation offered by the
Department. Credit is earned for the participant’s effort not any specific research activity. If a
one hour research credit is being awarded, the amount of effort should be one hour--or close to it.
If 10 points of extra credit is being awarded for participation in research, the effort to obtain the
extra credit should be consistent from one project to another. This requirement addresses the
issue of coercion by over-payment or over-rewarding student participants in such pools. For
example, participants may be unduly influenced to participate in Study A if it requires only 15
minutes when Study B requires 45 minutes to obtain the same credit.
Departments may use the SONA system and student subject pools for either course credit or
extra credit research experience, which may be obtained by participating in IRB-approved
studies conducted in the department under the supervision of faculty. In addition, because
research participation must be voluntary, an alternate method of fulfilling that academic
requirement or extra credit opportunity must also be made available to students.
Moreover, this alternate method must be an equivalent effort. If participating in a study for 30
minutes, for example, earns 2 points in extra credit, then the alternative cannot be writing a 5
page paper—it must be something that the student can do exerting no more effort than the
research participation offered.
Federal regulations indicate that research participants may not be penalized for a decision to
withdraw from research at any time. Therefore, no department may penalize students for “no
shows” when they have signed up for a study through the SONA system and then fail to
attend the research session without cancelling the appointment in advance. It is not allowed
to give the student a failing grade for the no-show or increasing the number of research
participation credits to be required of the student.
The regulations, however, do allow for departments to set a maximum number of times that
students can turn to the studies offered to fulfill their academic requirement. In other words,
students may be informed that they have a maximum of four opportunities to participate in
research to get the credit, and that, should they decide not to participate in a specific study,
failure to cancel their appointment in a timely fashion (e.g., 24 hours in advance, midnight the
night before the study, etc.) will count as one of those four opportunities. Any unfulfilled
research credits will then have to be completed by an alternative research experience once those
four opportunities have been used. These procedures, for each Department that uses the SONA
System, should be clearly outlined and provided to students in writing in advance.
Brief studies may be combined. When projects are brief, investigators may elect to “double
up” on some research sessions to keep the effort for any session consistent by the Department.
This may especially be the case in student driven research projects. For example, if it really only
takes 15 minutes to complete a survey for Study X, 20 minutes to complete the judgments
required for Study Y, and 15 minutes to complete the memory tasks for study Z, they can be
combined into one three-part experience that awards credit equivalent to one hour. Faculty may
be required to submit one application that may include details on 2-3 completely unrelated
studies.
When combining studies, the following suggestions may be helpful in completing the IRB
application.

Study titles on the IRB application (also the titles that must be used for recruitment)
could be something like "Two brief studies: Memory and Personality" where what
follows the colon is a broad description about the topic of each study.
 Start off the IRB application with a statement something like, "This IRB application
covers two projects that are sufficiently brief that students enrolled in the Psychology
Participant Pool can complete both in a one hour session to earn a one-hour research
credit. They are otherwise unrelated."
 Proceed with the application, answering each question for Study A. and Study B. That
will allow you to cut and paste from the applications that student researchers have
developed under your supervision.
 You can do the same with the Informed Consent, starting with a statement that, "You are
being asked to participate in two brief studies that are presented in the same time slot in

order to provide you with a one-hour research credit." Proceed for each item, labeling the
information as Study A or Study B where appropriate and using one description for items
where no distinction is required.
Department Chairs should file a description of the pool and how it is intended to work
with the UMass Lowell Director of the Office of Institutional Compliance (OIC). This
will allow the IRB reviewers to have a clear understanding of the effort required by
Department for the specific type of credit awarded by that Department. Department
Chairs (or their designee) should consult with OIC before establishing student
participant pools or making changes to them.
The Informed Consent form must reflect the availability of alternatives to course credit. In a
department where there is a research requirement in one course and in which others may offer
extra credit for research participation (as in the Psychology Department), wording on the
Informed Consent might be something like:
“You will receive a one hour research participation course credit, which may be one way
to fulfill a course requirement in General Psychology or one way to earn extra credit in
another course depending on what course policy your instructor has set.”
PLEASE NOTE:
SONA awards credit in whole units; however the department may choose how much time and
effort each unit represents. Typically one research credit or unit is equivalent to an hour, but it
can also be equivalent to 30 minutes. This needs to be clearly indicated to students participating
in the pool.
The Psychology Department requires that all studies for which participants are recruited through
the General Psychology Pool must have both IRB approval and at least one full-time faculty
member from the psychology department listed as a PI. IRB approval is a requirement across the
university. Other departments should determine which University PIs may recruit from their
pool.
Subject pools may also be used to recruit participants for research where monetary incentives are
offered. Departments should decide on the best policy for managing recruitment for paying
studies, i.e., whether such recruiting will be on the same platform as recruiting for participation
credits in courses.
Added to IRB Policy and Procedures, Sections:
III. Investigator Guidelines, B. Research Using Student Subject Pool
and
V.IRB Administration and Operation Information, E. Application Review Information for IRB
Members
Added to Investigator Guidelines:
D. Recruiting Participants from “Subject Pools”